How to choose where to live

1. Decide what would actually change your decision

A useful comparison starts before the data. Separate genuine constraints, such as budget, journey time, accessibility or a particular service, from preferences. If everything receives equal weight, a tidy score can make arbitrary choices look objective.

• Non-negotiables: the conditions a place must meet.
• Trade-offs: what you could accept for the right home or location.
• Address checks: questions a town average can never settle.

Keep this list visible. Do not change the criteria simply because one town performs well on an attractive metric.

2. Compare the same thing

Use the same metric, geography and period for both places. A median completed sale price is not comparable with a current asking-price average. Gigabit availability is not the speed residents actually receive. A recently retrieved school record may still contain an older inspection grade.

3. Put the headline beside its evidence

This example compares Worthing and Eastbourne to show the reading pattern. It is not a recommendation between them: only four measures are shown, household priorities differ and town boundaries conceal neighbourhood variation.

Scroll sideways to see all columns.

Sold prices: 12 months to July 2026. Recorded crime: July 2025 to June 2026 · 12 months. Gigabit availability: January 2026. EPC ratings: MHCLG domestic EPC register August 2026.

Open the complete Worthing guide · Open the Eastbourne guide

4. Ask what could be driving the difference

Before treating a gap as meaningful, inspect what sits underneath it. A lower town median can reflect a different mix of flats and houses. A higher crime rate can reflect visitor footfall or reporting patterns. A high share of favourable historical school grades does not guarantee a place, a catchment or current suitability.

Large samples reduce some volatility, but they do not repair a mismatched definition or make a town average representative of every neighbourhood.

5. Move from the town to the exact address

Once two or three places remain, switch tools. Check the property’s flood mapping, broadband availability and EPC; check the individual school and admissions arrangements; visit at the times that matter to you. A professional survey answers a different question from Kerbside’s area data.

1. Confirm the full address and boundary.
2. Use official flood and EPC services.
3. Check broadband with the provider or Ofcom.
4. Verify schools and admissions with the responsible authority.
5. Inspect the property and surrounding streets in person.

Check long-term flood risk · Find an EPC · Check broadband coverage

6. Record why one place fits better

Finish with a short decision record: what matters, which evidence supports the choice, what remains uncertain and which checks are still outstanding. This is more useful than a weighted score because another person can see the assumptions, and you can revise them when a new fact appears.

Find another town · Compare one measure at a time

Understand each measure in more detail

• How to compare crime rates between towns
• Flood Zone 3 versus surface-water risk
• How to check broadband before moving house
• What a town’s average house price really tells you

Common questions

Data sources

Dates below distinguish the period represented by the data from when the source was collected and published here. How we use these sources